The Splatoon feature on Edge magazine has many fans buzzing, as co-director Yusuke Amano explains bluntly why the game does not have voice chat.
This is coming from personal experience,” Amano says. “When I played online games, I didn’t like the negativity I got and people telling me, ‘You’re crap. Go away.’ So we wanted to focus on the positive aspects of online gaming.”
Amano admits this approach means missing out on a feature that makes online play stand out for many players. “I don’t want you to misunderstand—I’m not denying having chat in an online game does contribute to fun. But, as we’ve said, we want to grab new people.
Many fans are upset about the decision, but this misses one of the points Amano brings up. He plays online shooters and knows chat can be fun, especially among friends. However, Nintendo wants Splatoon to bring in new players. This is possibly an allusion to players who get discouraged from playing online shooters, thanks to the toxicity within these communities. It cannot be a coincidence that the playable characters, the Inklings, are children, and girl characters have the spotlight over the boys.
The same interview hints that Nintendo has high hopes for the game, and particularly the IP. EAD manager Katsuya Eguchi says they are considering using the Inklings in different kinds of games. There is also a possibility the game will get content updates and DLC, to keep fans interested after release.
Development was not easy at the start. In 2013, Miyamoto told the dev team that the game had no appeal. At this point, the dev team had just decided on the squids being able to hide in their ink. It wasn’t until early 2014 that they had the epiphany to give the squids human forms they could switch to.
At the time of the article, they were still testing the game internally, with heated debates on which weapon was better in some situations. It took them two hours alone to decide on the grenade detonation time.
Does Splatoon’s lack of voice chat turn you off, or make you want to play it, or share it with younger players you know? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.Splatoon will be releasing exclusively on the Wii U on May 29.
